Chapter Text
Chapter Fourteen: Infamy Aboard the Massive
"Are we there yet?"
"For the last time, NO," huffed an extremely annoyed Tallest Red. Purple had asked him the same question for several days, every hour on the hour, and even though he knew they weren't near their destination yet, he still felt obligated to remind his co-leader of how impatient he was. Red sighed after answering and looked out across the vast void of the universe that folded out before him as he reclined in his chair.
Purple had become more demanding the past several days since they had learned more about the Revolution, and became even more in control than Red. His simple-minded obsession with snacks seemed to have subsided, as he was now obsessed with reaching Earth and destroying Miyuki. He also wanted Chai badly.
Ever since Purple had murdered the Irken slave, the rest of the crew had grown uneasy around him. His temper had become more unpredictable and frightening. He snapped and yelled at everyone who had even the slightest bit of slightly bad news. He nearly hit one female slave who had the misfortune of telling him there were no more curly fries on board, but had been restrained by Red, who was getting extremely aggravated and sick of Purple's odd behavior.
"When are we gonna be there, huh? Huh? Huh?" His high-pitched voice echoed in the cavernous room until it hit Red's last nerve.
"Huh? Huh? Huh?"
"Shut UP! For crying out loud, shut the fuck UP!" Red's sudden outburst of anger made the room even more silent and uneasy. Not even the computers allowed themselves to beep periodically for several minutes. The heavy silence weighed down on everyone until Purple retaliated with,
"Excuse me? Did you just tell me to 'shut up'? I get the feeling you aren't as dedicated to destroying the infidels that have abandoned us as I am. Are you on their side, Red? Hmm? Is that what this is about?"
"No, it ISN'T. I'm just sick of you asking me the same damn question when you and I are both fully aware that we are not 'there yet'. You've changed for the worse. And I'm not the only one who–" He stopped himself, realizing what he wanted to say would possibly and most certainly lead to more unnecessary deaths. But Purple wasn't going to drop it so easily. He hissed back at Red,
"Go on, finish that last little thing. Who else is getting 'sick' of me?" When he received no response, he got up from his seat and floated down to the pilots and coordinators. They held back shudders and held their breath in torturous anticipation of an angry outburst. Purple floated over to each and observed them with something similar to that of hate in his eyes, only much worse. Each Irken he floated over became incredibly still and unable to focus on their jobs. He did this to each and every Irken until he was bored. He returned to his seat and glared daggers at his co-leader, who glared back angrily.
Nothing more was said between them the rest of the day. The murderous silence floated in the air and seemed to spread through the rest of the Massive, where it remained sustained for several more days. Things aboard the Massive were not well.
Meanwhile, back on earth:
"Request permission to enter facility," Mara announced into a special communication system solely for the medical ward. She waited for a response outside a large, thick stainless steel door that was obviously locked. Zim played with his hands nervously as he waited for the response-he felt horrible. He had promised Dib would be okay, and yet he had failed his new friend. A beating from Tak? What had that boy endured? Zim still didn't know about the bite and cut yet-Mara could only hope he wasn't going to completely blow his top off.
"Permission granted," answered a mechanical voice only seconds later. A high beeping noise emitted from the ceiling. Mara grabbed the door handled and pulled the door open towards her. The beeping stopped as soon as she forced the door open considerably. She allowed her party to enter, then let herself in, slamming the heavy door shut behind them.
The medical ward was just as empty as the morgue had been. It was sterile and white, just like the interrogation offices, and was quite eerie. But the Irkens were unaware of how eerie the setting was to a certain human laying on a small bed just to their right, his unharmed arm draped over his eyes.
The Irken doctor welcomed the visitors to his ward. Zim saluted him and said,
"Dr. Hosh, thank you for keeping an eye on Dib. Is he okay? He wasn't hurt too badly, was he?" The doctor made a strange noise, then said,
"Well . . . he has a pretty bad wound on his neck, but nothing fatal. The incision in his arm is nothing to worry about."
"Oh...didn't Dib tell you?" Zim asked calmly. The doctor shook his head and indicated that, no, Dib had not told him anything. Zim took the doctor aside and whispered discreetly,
"He used to have a really bad problem with hurting himself. He's all right now, though." The doctor gave Zim a quizzical look, then said,
"No, sir. This one is brand new. It's a fresh cut." Zim returned the look, only he mixed it with a bit of surprise and disappointment, then turned on his heel and marched over to Dib. Without even asking, Zim grabbed Dib's harmed wrist and gave it a dark look. Dib took his free arm from his eyes and said,
"Hey. What's wrong?"
"Tak. Did she do this to you?" Zim sounded serious and angry. Dib answered,
"Yeah. It's okay, though. Don't worry about it, Zim." Zim continued to examine the hurt arm, then remembered what the doctor had said about a neck wound. He released Dib's wrist and proceeded to inspect the bite mark. He gently pushed Dib's head to the side and gasped as he saw the real damage for the first time. He didn't touch the wound, though he wanted to, and said,
"Dib, how did you escape like this? You could have been killed." Dib, whose head was still being pushed to the side, answered,
"I managed. I had no idea how sharp Irken teeth were. It hurt like hell."
"I can imagine. I want you to stay here until you're healed and ready." Dib made a sound that resembled a mutter, then he suddenly snapped his head back and looked straight into Zim's eyes.
"Is-was Angra really–murdered?" He choked on the last word. The question hit everyone, including Zim, hard. He looked away from Dib and sighed sadly. That was all Dib needed. He sat up and said,
"I want to go back to the operating room, with the computers. I need to avenge him." Zim looked back up at Dib and said,
"No, not yet. Not when Tak is out there. If she kidnaped you before, she'll do it again. We have Keef in custody. If you go missing, she'll probably use you as a hostage until she gets Keef back."
"But–"
"NO. You'll stay here until further notice. Right now, you can tell us anything you can about Tak's hiding place." Dib was annoyed that he wasn't being allowed to go free, but he did want to help. So he began to tell the entire party about how he had escaped.
"...and then I was caught in this swirly light thingy that asked for a destination to be dropped off at. That's were Mara found me."
"At the drop-off point?"
"Yeah."
Mara interrupted him and said to her team,
"Move people. Go back to that point and search until you find something. I have something to do." Her team saluted her, and she in return, then ran off to investigate. Mara turned back to Dib and Zim and said,
"Remember how before I was observing you, Dib? It's time to put that information to use." She produced a small, matte-grey sphere from her PAK, along with two wires, one pink and one lavender. Then, in each wire, she slid in one needle each. She looked at Dib, ready to explain the process, but he nodded. He understood exactly what she was doing.
She nodded back and slid the pink wire and needle into Dib's arm, then did the same to herself with the lavender wire and needle. She fiddled with the grey sphere, then released it from her grasp. Instead of falling to the ground, it remained airborne, where it trembled slightly. Dib shuddered slightly as a chilling sensation ran through his arm, into his chest, down his torso and coursed through his legs.
Zim watched, always fascinated by this process. Miyuki stood quietly, also watching. Dib kept his eyes directly on Mara, who, very slowly, began to transform. Her small head grew wider, her antennae took on a more human hair-like nature, and her body grew a little taller. Her skin went pale, and her eyes became less Irken and more human. Dib couldn't believe what he was witnessing.
"Transformation complete," the little sphere chirped suddenly. It stopped hovering and nearly dropped, but Mara reached out and grabbed it. Dib's heart was racing-she had done it! She was him–it was so incredible! There she was, standing before them all, but not as Mara. She was Dib. That's when Dib began to think about the whole concept.
"Wait-if she's me, then . . . oh, wow!" He looked down at his hands and found he was not Dib. He was Mara. His pale human hands were now green Irken claws. He was shorter, his head was smaller. He removed his glasses and found he could see very well without them. He handed them over to Mara and said,
"You'll need these." She smiled and agreed in Dib's voice,
"Indeed. I can't see a thing." Zim allowed himself to chuckle a bit, then said,
"Well, Mara, that was exciting. You two will need to swap clothing now, and then you can get to your mission. Dib, give her your usual outfit, including the Irken uniform, and she'll give you hers. Not only must you look like the other, but you must smell like the other. Irken noses are extremely sensitive. Scent is contained best within clothing fibers." Dib nodded and jumped off the little bed to take his outfit off. He was going to go behind something to undress, but when Mara stripped down right in front of everyone, he knew right away it wasn't uncommon to undress in front of others.
They switched clothes and soon, they were the other. Dib was Mara, and Mara was Dib. She patted his Irken head and said,
"You stay safe, all right? Don't do anything you would normally do. If you see Tak, get out of there as soon as possible and report to anyone you know well." Dib nodded. Mara saluted Miyuki and Zim, then went off to begin her mission: lure out Tak and capture her by any means necessary. Zim turned his attention to Miyuki.
"My Queen, what should we do now?" Miyuki looked up at the ceiling in deep thought, then said,
"I want Dib to stay here, just for observation. After tonight, he can be released. I want to see what happens in the next twelve hours." Dib agreed with her, then said,
"Is there anything I can do down here?"
"No. I want you to rest and heal. Tomorrow, we will need you back in the computer room."
"Okay. Zim?"
"Yes?"
"...I'm sorry about Angra." Zim sighed.
"Me too, kid. Me too."
.
.
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A/N: I honestly wanted to give Angra a bigger role, I really did. But I had to move the story along, and sacrifices had to be made. Goodbye, fictional solider. Maybe I'll give him a one-shot fic someday. End Chapter Fourteen.